NFL vs. NCAA Division in Football Essay Example

We all love the game of football; or at least, the majority of people do- it is so much fun to watch or play. Football is one of the most widespread sports in the United States. The NCAA college football and the NFL make up the most popularly watched games. Both of these sports boast a very large fan base and it is, therefore, debatable as to which of the two sports is more popular than the other. Despite the number of similarities the two sports share like having players with specific roles such as defending or attacking, there are notable differences between NFL and college football as will be discussed.

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College football is a sport that is played usually by college and university students around the United States. Many of the students who excel at the sport are offered scholarship opportunities by their schools to play the game. However, unlike the NFL, which is a professional football league, college student-athletes are not allowed to make money from the sport and they mainly play and compete to bring pride to their institutions. Additionally, some of the college athletes participate in the sport in the hope that in the future they shall play professional football.

Despite the consistency in the general rules of the sport, there are many differences that arise when comparing college football to the NFL. For instance, in college football, a pass in only completed when the receiver of the ball catches it and lands with one foot within bounds of the playing field (Redding, 2017). This is in contrast to NFL football where the receiver of the ball is required to land with both feet inbound (Goodell, 2018). While the one-foot inbound rule seems impressive as it allows more control to the receiver of an especially tough ball, in my opinion, it might be necessary to adjust the rule and adopt the two feet inbound rule to make an easier transition for the college athletes who wish to play the professional football in the future.

In addition, the down by contact rule does not apply to college football. According to this rule, a ball carrier is considered to be down by contact when the player is tackled by an opponent and touches the ground with any body part other than hands and feet (Goodell, 2018). When this happens in the NFL, the play is over. However, in college football, a player is considered down even when he falls on his own and the play is over. Also, a typical college game takes at least 15 minutes more than a professional game. Most of the NFL games take slightly over three hours. Many of the college games take longer to end since a game cannot end as a tie after the usual overtime and must therefore continue until a winner is found.

In college football, when an opponent interferes with an offensive player and somehow prevents him from catching a forward pass, commonly referred to as defensive pass interference, a penalty is set at 15 yards if the foul happened more than 15yards downfield (Redding, 2017). The ball is, however, taken to the spot where the foul happened if the foul was near the line of scrimmage. This is not usually the case for the professional football where the ball is moved to the spot of the foul regardless of where it happened. Moreover, even if both sports are physical games, holding an opponent player who is not in possession of the ball is prohibited. In the NFL, if a defensive player restrains an offensive player, who is without the ball, at a distance beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage, it results in a 5-yard penalty and an automatic first down (Goodell, 2018). The penalty is set at 10 yards for the same foul in college football.

Another notable difference between NFL and college football is the number of players on a roster. Since college football is not a professional sport, the number of players in a team can even go beyond thrice the total number for an NFL team. A roster for an NFL team has 53 players and usually, 46 out of the total number of players are active to play (Goodell, 2018). Due to the unregulated numbers of college athletes in a single team, it is common to notice that many of the players don't identify with a unique jersey number unlike in professional football. To add on, since college athletes play for as long as they are students, their careers are short-lived since they quit the team after about 4 years. Professional football career takes longer than four years. When star players quit their college teams upon completion of their studies, it may result in disappointment to the fans.

During preseason and regular season games, the overtime rules for NFL games stipulate that only one overtime is played, after which the game should end even if it is still tied. In overtime, if the first possession results in a field goal, the other team is afforded the chance to match or better the scoreline and thus continuing the game. If they fail to score, the match ends. In college football, both teams are given possession during overtime after which the game is declared over if one of them is leading. If the two teams are still tied, the game continues until a winner is found. Further, the hash marks in the NFL are 18 feet 6 inches apart while in college football they are spaced at 40 feet apart (Goodell, 2018). The spacing of hash marks in NFL allows for balanced field coverage at the start of the game unlike in the college football.

Conclusion

Even though the comparison of the NFL to college football is debatable, in my opinion, the NFL is a much superior sport. NFL football is well organized in terms of the number of players a team has and their unique jersey numbers, unlike the college football which doesn't have a limit of the maximum number of players a team can have and their specific jersey numbers. Also, I think the NFL players get quality training since they have no studies to think of, unlike the college athletes.

References

Goodell, R. (2018). 2018 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Redding, R. (2017). 2017 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press.